Documentary films have traditionally been confined to the realms of the classroom or nerd TV. Sometimes both. They have been designed to inform and educate, rather than entertain. Free Solo has transcended this barrier and brought documentaries into the mainstream. Free Solo brought spectacle to our screens, not through CGI, but through the majesty of nature.
The evolution of the documentary from a dry information dump to an inspiring narrative drama has allowed Free Solo to find a broader audience. Director/ Producers Elizabeth “Chai” Vasarhelyi and husband Jimmy Chin set out to make a film about a rock climber by the name of Alex Honnold more than rock climbing itself. You don’t even have to like rock climbing to appreciate the human story behind Free Solo. Aside from the technical challenges involved in filming a climb, Chai was equally mindful of mining Honnold’s emotional core in the narrative.
Chai Vasarhelyi (Photo: National Geographic/Chris Figenshau)
Chai and Chin initially pitched the idea of Alex Honnold who wanted to climb the famed El Capitan, a 3,000-foot granite rock in Yosemite National Park, to National Geographic. Free solo means Honnold climbed solo without the use of harness or ropes. Chai and Chin insisted on National Geographic withholding any publicity until the eighteenth-month-old shoot was complete. After all, Honnold may not have completed the climb. (We all know how the film ends. Everybody’s smiling).
Honnold was always in a precarious position during his free solo. One misstep or incorrect fingerhold could have spelled certain death. For a young man in his thirties, Honnold holds a philosophy of life often reserved for people at least fifty years his senior. He contemplates death as an inevitability and life to be lived to the fullest – maximizing danger and minimizing risk. He’s not reckless in his death-defying climbs or even trying to make a point about his free spirit to anyone but himself. His every move is surgically planned and repeatedly rehearsed before he even left the ground.
All in service of Alex’s greatest goal to subdue his inner monster called fear.
Free Solo won an Oscar for Best Documentary film in 2019 along with a slew of additional awards including the highly-appropriate “Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary” Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. Honnold takes his success all in his stride as he plans his next life adventure.
We asked Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi “Chai” to discuss her love of documentary filmmaking. “I’ve always been interested in true stories. I started my career as a journalist and wanted to transition that into long-form documentary filmmaking,” she said. Chai also points out that traditional fictional and non-fictional documentary films are remarkably similar, the only difference being documentary uses real material. Both explore fundamental truths about the human experience.
We asked her about the process of shaping the narrative for Free Solo during pre-production. Even in non-fiction documentary formats, character arcs need to be established.
Chai was careful of structuring the entire narrative around the climb by focusing on the audience who were not climbers themselves. “How do you build that climb so that the audience can be right there with Alex, both physically and emotionally?” That was the most challenging aspect of the film.
The actual climb also needed to be dispersed with character development. The audience needed to travel with Alex Honnold as his we got to spend more time with him. “Your character work is always escalated ‘by degree’ to offset the visuals of the rock climbing.”
“The climb was always the main character,” according to Chai. The documentary filmmakers pushed Honnold’s story to the fore, because he is more than the first person to free solo El Capitan. “It wasn’t about the Free Solo. It was about Alex who was scared of everything. He’s scared of vegetables, he’s scared of affection. But he had a vision and a dream that could only be accomplished by determination and hard work. One by one he conquered his fears – he started to eat vegetables, he hugged people (no matter how uncomfortable), and eventually, accomplished the climb of his life.” The documentary could never be about any other rock climber, it was always about Alex Honnold.
Alex Honnold’s Climbing Journal (Photo: National Geographic/Jimmy Chin)
Discovery and Surprise
“The beauty of non-fiction material is that you truly don’t know how the film will turn out,” said Chai. No amount of planning can prepare you for an unexpected turn of events. “The documentary film changed quite dramatically when Alex met Sanni McCandless.” This was something they didn’t anticipate given that Honnold largely kept to himself and not known for dating. But not all surprises are bad. “We saw Alex evolve emotionally and that changed the whole narrative.” Chai found this aspect of Alex’s personality to be most surprising. “Given that Alex Honnold is not one to become emotionally involved, he became very comfortable being around people during the production of the film.”
Chai was asked how she balanced the spectacle of the rock climb with the depth of his character. “They’re one and the same,” she declared. The climb is Alex and Alex is the climb. “Alex’s character was revealed both through the mental and physical preparation and execution of the climb.”
Honnold has a unique perspective on life according Chai. “How do we show that through Alex’s actions? How do we allow people to show his trustworthiness without assuming he’s crazy, rash or some daredevil?”
Alex lives life on his own terms balancing life and death, overcoming fear and exploring the human spirit. “He understands the risks in what he does, but he’s true to himself. He lives a life of intention. He chooses to do what makes him happy. He chooses to be a vegan. He chooses to preserve the planet in his own way.” Honnold doesn’t leave anything to chance and chooses “a life of efficiency.”
Despite Alex’s declaration to his girlfriend Sanni “that he’s not obligated to stay alive,” Chai ironically adds how “terrified Alex is of dying.”
Alex Honnold & Sanni McCandless (Photo: National Geographic/ Jimmy Chin)
Alex Honnold believes that fear is a healthy thing. His climb was so meticulously planned that he completed it on adrenaline and grit. “He expanded his fear bubble so that his feelings of fear are brushed aside.”
Chai advises documentary filmmakers that they really need to care about the story they’re telling. “There has to be a reason for you to make it.” For Chai, that reason was the pursuit of truth. “Truth is really important. You can’t forget you’re dealing with non-fiction. The best fiction is an expression of a fundamental human truth. Truth moves me.”
Documentary filmmaking is more than a matter of pointing and shooting a camera – and later figuring it out in the edit bay. The documentary production team behind Free Solo gathered hundreds of hours of footage to be whittled down to one hundred minutes. Chai likes to edit during the production process to making the editing phase less arduous. “The rules are what are we telling in this scene and why?” This process helps them plan the subsequent shooting days.
There is no doubt that Alex Honnold has inspired millions to follow their dreams. For the Creative Screenwriting team, that means a free solo up the stairs to our office.
